Month: January 1979

BBYO National Convention 29 December 1978 to 1 January 1979

As I write on 31 December 2018, I find it hard to believe that it is 40 years since I attended the BBYO National Convention 1978/1979, my second National Convention.

I took loads of black and white photographs at that 1978/1979 convention – four rolls of film by my reckoning. At some point, someone must have taken some photographs for me:

Incontrovertible evidence that I wore baggy flares in those days. This is the Streatham clan performing some sort of a skit. We all look like we could do with a good meal.
I’m not sure where this busker came from or which day this picture was taken, but the poor fellow (like many of us) looks as though he needed a good meal and some decent clothes. We must all hope that he went on to make something of his life:

Jeffrey Spector in skittish mode

On 31 December 1978, Jeffrey Spector, who is sadly no longer with us, was installed as the National president for 1979. Although I didn’t know it then, some months later I was co-opted onto Jeffrey’s National Executive to edit the magazine for the last few months of 1979. It was an honour and privilege for me to have worked with him (and others of course) in that capacity.

I’m not too sure what was happening at this juncture but I am pretty sure this was taken on Jeffrey’s installation day and would have been part of that day’s ceremony/procedure.

There’s loads that I’d like to write about this convention and other BBYO happenings, but I think I should consult with others before delving into details.

One abiding memory of this particular convention is the extremely cold and snowy weather over New Year that year. Some scallywags took full advantage:


You can take the lad out of South London…

My diary for the three days (29 to 31 December) simply reads:

29 December: CONVENTION

30 December: SHEER

31 December: MAGIC

Whereas my diary entry for 1 January 1979 reads:

1 January: Return from convention. Cold – both sorts.

I feel immensely fortunate that I had the opportunity to share my youth with the terrific bunch of people I met through BBYO.

The Flickr album link that follows (the picture below) takes you to all the black and white photos I took and/or that were taken on my camera during that convention. Trigger warning – there are more than 140 pictures:

BBYO MN VU (19)